Chance & Story Essay

In third row through 6th, I had a friend named Chance. We were best friends and of ecstasy spent long days and nights over at each others house. Whenever I stayed at Chances, the house was filled with noise from the 2 of us and his six brothers and sisters. Chances family was Mormon, a religion that my family knew postal code intimately except the name. He once explained why his family was so large, except it made little sense to me at that time. During the summer between sixth and seventh grade Chances family moved away to Utah.Ive learned a bit more just about Mormons since but this subsidization offered me an opportunity to learn more about the religion of my friend and how Mormons palpate about how they atomic number 18 perceived in the United States, comicly concerning the natural law of nature and contrariety. Chances family was only one of many Mormons in my townsfolk and surrounding areas. Patty is a good friend of mine who attends the Mormon church building service in town since she was a baby, so through her I was able to find three concourse to inter look.Her parents were not available, but she introduced me to a Mormon electric chargeary Brian, a neighbor Barbara, and Chris, her mothers home- inculcateer. Brian is twenty age old and is originally from Nova Scotia, Canada. He is currently nearing the end of his Mormon mission, which is a semi-required two year work for Mormon young workforce to an area chosen by the head church in brininess Lake City, Utah. He had just graduated high school when he began the pedagogy for the mission.His mission is to go door to door in the neighborhoods to share his beliefs and teach anyone interested about the basics of the church. Barbara is also not originally from this area. She was born(p) and raised in Provo, Utah, which is where the Mormon university Brigham Young is located. She moved here ten years ago when her husbands job transferred. She is forty-three years old, has five childre n between six and fifteen, has a college degree from BYU in merchandise but doesnt currently work outside her home, and has been married for cardinal years.Chris is from this area and has lived here all of his fifty-six years. He is an elder at the church, has four children and sixteen grandchildren so far, works as a utensil repairer, and volunteers for the church as a home-teacher in which he regularly visits church members for further teaching about the church. Having such(prenominal)(prenominal) different subjects to interview prove very interesting. Each shared that they have dealt with some sort of difference in their lifetimes as Mormons. They all indicated that the problems are rarely very serious and never violent, but are more subtle.Barbara notices the negative attitude towards Mormons intimately of the three because she lived for so long in Utah, which is heavily populated with Mormons, especially where she lived in Provo. She verbalise that when the family moved , she was surprised to find that there are raft who still believe Mormons are the many-wives religion. One woman at her childrens school even asked once if Barbara was one of several wives of her husband. Neither Brian nor Chris said that they have had this problem. Brian said his problem is more centered on his mission work. He has often heard deal theorize there go the two-by-twos. The missionaries work in pairs, so he said the term stuck. For the to the highest degree part, he says people are friendly towards him and often comment that Mormons are the nicest people they know, but very few choose to actually argue the churchs teachings. Instead Brian and Chris both said that most people are interested in if Mormons are a cult that traps unsuspecting victims. Barbara also said this is something people have asked in round-about ways such as through her kids. All three said that it is often cross the poor view that they feel the majority of Americans have toward the Mormon Chu rch.Barbara and Chriss children mostly have other Mormon friends, and those that are not Mormon are seldom allowed to attend activities organized for the Mormon youth such as dances, outings, or sport activities if they are to be held at the church. They say that no one has said directly why the kids cant attend, but all three believe that it is related to the negative view of the church. They all also indicated that any issues that arise are always affable in nature, that they have never had a problem with employers or the law regarding discrimination.Interestingly, as I interviewed each person, I found myself also curious about the oddities of the Mormon church. When Barbara mentioned the many-wives idea, I wanted to know more about it. So I was doing exactly what the three had said most people do expressing curiosity about the strangeness instead of the good qualities of the church or its teachings. However, I did learn quite a bit about the basic structure of the church, why it is based in Utah, and how Mormons view the military man and the after-life.Since the problems that Mormons experience are almost always social, it is a matter of late changing the publics view of the church. Chris believes that the commercials the church has put on television have gone a long way in changing perceptions about the church. Brian said that attitudes are better in Canada towards the church most likely because it started in the USA, where it experienced a lot of discrimination in its beginnings. So it is a matter of time and continued share for the Mormon Church to be recognized as a lawful religion and not as a cult.